Startup Culture “Seeds” for Women Entrepreneurs

Summary: If a woman entrepreneur wants to create a startup culture that is productive, energizing and successful, she can by planting these seeds.

The culture a company develops in the beginning sets the stage for the type of company that will develop in five, ten or fifteen years. The way a startup is run plants the seeds for what is and is not acceptable within an organization, and that company culture can be designed just like any other aspect of a business. If a woman entrepreneur wants to create a startup culture that is productive, energizing and successful, she can by planting these seeds:

Focusing on Strengths

Women entrepreneurs tend to focus on people’s strengths more than men. Concentrating on weaknesses only breeds mediocrity, not greatness. If women entrepreneurs want their startup culture to give birth to an exceptional company, they have to start by leveraging strengths.

Staying Simple

A relentless focus on simplicity aligns a company to one central goal: to create a better product or provide a better service. If they can’t, then they refuse to try. To develop a startup culture that sticks to simplicity, women entrepreneurs should filter everything through the lens of a company’s cause. Saying “no” to hundreds of “good” things enables them to say “yes” to a handful of really great things.

Taking Time for Renewal

The world’s most successful people share something in common: they follow up periods of intense performance with periods of powerful renewal. Women entrepreneurs can achieve their best in the long-term by rejuvenating after times of extreme energy output. It is hard to plant this “seed” in startup culture, but it is vitally important to creating a successful business.

Promoting Systematic Growth

Every procedure and policy that affects people can either grow a startup culture or destroy it. Successful women entrepreneurs ask why they do something the way they do every step of the way, from recruiting to setting working hours and determining compensation. Every aspect of the work environment systematically supports growth by reinforcing simplicity, leveraging strengths and allowing time for renewal.